Start Planning Your New Mineral Sites

As spring draws near it’s time to start planning where you will place your new mineral sites. With deer beginning to push out old bone and grow new bone along with gestating does, spring green-up is the key time to start supplementing your deer herd with a nutrient rich mineral.  If you do not maintain your sites year round it is still a must to continue into early fall.

Heavily traveled areas near water and food sources are the best places to start with new sites.  Place a new site just off the trail where the deer can smell and see it.  You can also add sites where several trails converge at pinch points.  Always remember that the idea is minimal human presence/disturbance throughout the year.  Keep this in mind when starting your sites.

Each new site should begin with 10-20 pounds of mineral.  Every 30 days you will need to refresh the site with 10 pounds of mineral or more based on the activity at that site.  Some will get used more than others based on frequency of travel patterns.  We recommend that you should have 1 site per 20 acres with custom tailoring based on deer density and land types.

Best Way to Start a Site

The best way to start a site is by clearing a 3’ X 3’ area of ground. Remove all sticks, leaves, grass and other debris. Loosen and turn the soil approximately six (6”) deep and then mix the RAKS™ mineral into the soil.  If the soil is extremely dry then sprinkle the mineral lick with water to make it moist. For future applications, sprinkle at least 10 pounds of RAKS™ Mineral evenly over the area.

A good supplement program will keep your does healthier which will give you healthier fawns.  Those two things combined will help you achieve what you are truly after and that is bigger, healthier bucks!

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